By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LINCOLN CENTER — The latest accessory that fashionistas are sporting at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is not a necklace or a handbag, but a bar code.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has become tech-savvy, implementing a new system of digital seating charts, a bar code scan check in process, and web-based guest lists.
The technological innovations are meant to streamline the typically hectic check-in process, eliminating the need for people to swarm around PR assistants holding clipboards to find their runway seats. Instead, guests scan their bar codes at airport-style kiosks to receive a personalized print out with seat assignments.
“The new check-in system has been working great,” said Eddie Mullon, president of Fashion GPS, the online event planning and inventory tracking company. “You have a lot of people who have to get into a show within a short amount of time, so to be able to just scan your bar code and walk into the tents with your seat assignment in hand is faster and easier.”
These on-site hardware enhancements allow fashion houses to view up-to-the-minute guest arrival information so they can quickly rectify the runway show faux pas of leaving any seats open.
In addition to electronic check in, Fashion GPS allowed designers to send out e-mail invitations to their shows instead of bulky paper invites. RSVPs were collected in an online database, and a guest’s attendance was confirmed via e-mail.
Guests are taking notice and like the new system.
“It’s very easy and so much quicker than before,” said Rana Taghdisi, who works in finance and has attended Fashion Week in the past. “A lot of people aren’t even printing out their bar codes at home, they’re just scanning them on their phones, which is so nice and fast.”
